WASHINGTON (DC) — The Arab American Political Action Committee (Aapac) has said it will not endorse Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris or Republican former President Donald Trump citing what it called their “blind support” for Israel in operations in Gaza and Lebanon.
According to Reuters, the Nov 5 US elections will mark the first time Aapac has chosen not to endorse a candidate since the group’s 1998 inception. It usually endorses Democrats.
“Both candidates have endorsed genocide in Gaza and war in Lebanon,” Aapac said in a statement. “We simply cannot give our votes to either Democrat Kamala Harris or Republican Donald Trump, who blindly support the criminal Israeli government.”
Polls show the race between Harris and Trump as tight. Arab and Muslim Americans overwhelmingly backed President Joe Biden in 2020 but have been vocal opponents of US support for Israel, which has eroded their backing of Democrats.
Trump has historically had low approval from that community due to past statements and his policy of a travel ban targeting Muslim-majority nations when he was in office. Like Harris and Biden, Trump has also been a vocal supporter of Israel.
The grandmother of Palestinian boy Yaman Al-Zaanin, who was born and killed amid the ongoing conflict and lost his life in an Israeli strike on a school-turned-shelter, carries his body at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, on Oct 14, 2024. — Reuters
